


Off His Feet

by hoarderhangover



Category: Free!
Genre: Confessions, First Kiss, Haru has a prosthetic foot, High School AU, M/M, Makoto is a blushing idiot, Makoto is a lifeguard, Prostheses, Protective Tachibana Makoto, Rin is the bad guy, makoharu - Freeform, sorry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-21
Updated: 2016-07-21
Packaged: 2018-07-25 21:03:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7547199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hoarderhangover/pseuds/hoarderhangover
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You were my first, though."</p>
<p>There's a pause. </p>
<p>Makoto realizes too late what he's said, seeing Haru blush, and quickly backtracks: "First rescue, I mean, first rescue."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>...In which Makoto rescues Haru one day when he's lifeguarding. It's all downhill from there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Off His Feet

And after all his form is perfect.

He perches on the diving board, well-built arms stretched over his head, every muscle tensed for the push off. He could be anyone, really, any amazing swimmer with flawless hair and taut thighs. Just another soon-to-be Olympian.

He is perfect, as long as you don't look at his sculpted calves, at the complex pieces of metal that make up his right foot.

But Makoto does look. 

He leans forward in his lifeguard chair and watches the boy leap off the board into another stunning dive. He watches the boy pull his dark head out of the water, shake out his hair, lick his lips and make a face. 

Makoto watches this boy, the same boy, every time he lifeguards. 

The first time the boy cringes like that, Makoto thinks he's hurt himself. But then he just swings out of the water, dripping water all over his toned chest, and Makoto realizes that the boy just isn't satisfied with the dive.

He doesn't talk to Makoto. He never has. He just keeps coming 'round and 'round to the board. Makoto is pretty sure that he's here at the pool every single day - at least, he's here whenever Makoto is. 

He bounds up the ladder for what must be the fiftieth time, stretching his arms behind his head. Makoto bites his lip - the boy's body is just so perfect, back muscles flexing, we abs glistening in the sun. And Makoto shouldn't be looking at him like that. 

His walk to the end of the board is firm and determined. If you didn't look down, you'd never know he had a prosthetic foot. Makoto has lost sleep marveling at how much practice it must take to swim with a prosthetic like that. 

He pushes off, but this time it all happens way too fast: no perfect, stellar form. No smooth sliding into the water. Just a slip, a clunk, a yelp, and the boy goes spilling into the pool.

Makoto springs up, panic seizing his heart. In his mind his lifeguard training chants, "Target! Alert! Rescue! Target! Alert - !"

Makoto blasts on his whistle. The boy is struggling, almost slipping under. And he's such a strong swimmer! And Makoto has never made a rescue before, and his heart's pounding, and omgwhat'shegonnado?

Makoto launches off the chair, hitting the water hard. He flouders in the pool and a wave of water goes over the boy's head, and for a split second Makoto thinks he's lost him.

Adrenaline surges through Makoto's limbs as he grabs the boy under the armpits. The boy almost slips, flailing, but Makoto digs his nails in, pumping his legs. Bracing himself, holding his breath, Makoto ducks under the water.

Slide him on your lifeguard tube, Makoto recites to himself. But the tube slips away and Makoto can't let the boy go under. Kicking ferociously, panting, Makoto pops back above water and clings the boy's dark head to his chest instead.

The pool is deep. So deep that Makoto could sink under this weight. So deep that he, the lifeguard, could drown.

"I - I got it," gasps the boy, throwing his head back and hitting Makoto in the chest. "I - I... I can do it."

He kicks and struggles and together they manage to make it to the side of the pool. His dark hair clings to his face as he heaves his body out of the water, arms straining. As Makoto pulls himself up, he glances at the boy's foot. It's messed up, twisted at an odd angle, and the boy is sucking in air at an alarming rate.

Everyone is there, by the side of the pool. Several lifeguards, Makoto's manager, and strangers, all blurry because of the water in Makoto's eyes. He clutches the boy's arm for lack of anything else to hold onto, but in seconds his manager is helping him up.

"Are you OK?" asks the manager, looking more concerned than is probably polite. The motto at the pool is, "If anything goes wrong, we're screwed."

"I'm fine," says the boy tightly, struggling for breath. "Just knocked my prosthesis, is all. Tipped me over."

The manager shoots Makoto a worried look. 

"Let's get you to the first aid room, see if we can call your doctor about your, erm, foot while we fill out some paperwork."

With the manager supporting most of the boy's weight, Makoto followed them dripping wet. It's a dumb thing to be stressing about, but he's suddenly nervous to meet the boy. He's so incredible and Makoto - Makoto's so average. 

He wraps himself in his towel and stands awkwardly in the first aid room. The manager and a couple other authority guys crouch in front of the boy, messing with his foot. The boy seems irritated.

"What's your name?" asks the manager.

"Haruka Nanase." 

Haruka. Haruka and Makoto. Mako and Haru. Haruka...

Makoto shakes his head, flushing. He's such an idiot. 

"How long have you been walking with this prosthesis?" Now the manager is taking stuff down on his clipboard.

"I think it's been... " Haruka pauses. "Eleven years now."

Not for the first time, Makoto wonders what had happened. Had he been in some kind of accident?

But the manager doesn't even blink. "Uh-huh. And how old are you?"

"Seventeen." 

Makoto’s age. He bites his lip, watching the boy’s stoic expression and tight shoulders. He seems angry, somehow.

"And what's your phone number?"

As Haruka rattles off his number, as if he just wants to get this over with, Makoto is tempted to write it down. Of course he's not a stalker, but... No, of course he’s not. Really.

After a few more questions, the manager leaves the room to phone Haruka’s parents and his doctor. He's readjusted his prosthetic foot, but Makoto isn't sure if it's broken or if it just got knocked askew.

He huddles in the doorway, unsure what to say to this boy he's just saved - a boy he never imagined would need saving. He feels like the time to start a conversation is awkwardly past already. 

Haruka keeps his eyes down, eyebrows furrowed. "Can't believe I screwed that up," he mutters, so quietly that Makoto barely catches it.

Makoto thinks Haruka is talking to him at first, and before he realized Haruka's just thinking out loud, he says, "What?"

Haruka glances up, slightly surprised, and then looks away. "Nothing. I'm just... I'm just mad, that's all."

Makoto is confused for a moment, and Haruka quickly adds, "Not at you. I just shouldn't have fallen."

Makoto’s about to say that it wasn't Haruka’s fault. With a prosthesis, no one can blame him. In fact, in his head Makoto is congratulating Haruka for being so amazing, for not letting his disability get him down.

But then the manager comes back and takes over again, and the last Makoto hears from Haruka Nanase is a soft, barely-audible "Thank you," as he leaves the office.

At least that’s the last Makoto thinks he'll hear from him.

Xxx

The cat meows, scratching at Makoto’s hair from on top of his backpack.

"Go back home, cat," Makoto says fondly. The cat sometimes joins him on the walk to school, but it can't come inside with him. He learned that the hard way.

At the door, Makoto tilts his head and nudges the car. She swats him with her tail as she turns and leaps nimbly to the ground. Makoto puts his hand on the door, already missing the company, but just as he’s about to enter the school, he hears a hiss and a yelp.

A very familiar yelp.

"Gah - dammit!” the voice swears. 

Makoto whips around. He might even crick his neck, because his hand goes automatically to his hair. 

There he is. Haruka Nanase. Tall, dark, and danger - OK, maybe not dangerous, but it's hard to look badass when you just tripped over a cat. To give him credit.

"Crap, I'm so sorry!" Makoto feels guilty, even though he hasn't technically done anything.

"I'm fine," Haruka say quickly, too quickly, looking away. 

Makoto makes the mistake of immediately glancing down at his foot. Uniform pants and "normal" shoes hide the metal, but Haruka still shifts backwards self-consciously. 

"Hey, do I know you?" he asks, quietly, rubbing the back of his head, awkwardly.

He doesn't... He doesn't recognize me, realizes Makoto.

"Yeah, this summer, I - " Makoto pauses as the cat rubs against his legs. He's gotten a haircut since the beginning of the summer, not to mention the lack of lifeguarding visor and sunglasses. Haruka really doesn't recognize him. 

"I think we ran into each other," Makoto finishes lamely, thinking that his botched dive might not be the best memory to bring back.

Haruka frowns. "I think... Anyway, it doesn't matter.” He looks at the ground and tries to sidle past, but Makoto still wants to talk to him. He doesn't know  
why,but he hasn't been able to get this boy out of his head.

“I'm sorry about the cat,” Makoto says, shooing her away. The cat just stands watching them like a bodyguard, as if Haruka might do something wrong. 

“It’s fine,” said Haruka, who looks like he really doesn't want to talk.

Makoto's not giving up. “I'm Makoto.”

“Haru.”

Makoto likes that. Haru. As the other boy tries to inch his way past, Makoto gets a better look at his bag. Not surprisingly, it's a swimmer’s bag.

“You swim?” asks Makoto, hoping he's not being too nosy, as he gestures to the bag.

For the first time, Haru’s eyes snap up. He's finally paying attention. “Yes,” he says. “I was hoping to join the swim team here.”

He must be new, Makoto realizes. “I'm on the swim team,” he says, smiling. 

Haru’s mouth makes an “o” and he looks at Makoto like he's noticing him for the first time. 

“C’mon, let's go in,” says Makoto, finally letting Haru past and holding the door open for him. 

Haru inches past him into the school, looking a little askance that Makoto is holding the door, but not questioning it - he's probably used to it. 

“So, looking forward to the school year?” Makoto asks, hoping to learn a bit more about Haru, but the hallways are so noisy that he's not sure if Haru hears him. Haru doesn't answer, so Makoto just falls into step next to him. 

“This is my locker,” Makoto says at last, a little disappointed to be leaving Haru. Haru nods, but Makoto notices him smile just a bit as the crowd sweeps him away.

Makoto wonders what Haru would think if he knew the lifeguard was Makoto.

Xxx

Makoto is always excited for swim practice, but today he's especially looking forward to seeing Haru again.

Makoto has to run from his last period class to the pool because swim team starts practice almost right away. He changes as fast as possible and then bounds out into the pool area -

-and bumps right into Haru.

“Makoto!” Haru seems surprised into talking for once, and Makoto flushes, ashamed at his bumbling collision.

“Sorry,” he says, and feels like it's the millionth time that day.

Haru's already looking away, a slight blush on his face as well. “It's okay.”

“No, I'm really … Sorry! In always knocking you over today! I really am sorry!” Now he's rambling and Makoto feels very stupid. He should stop. Just because Haru is attractive doesn't give him an excuse to act like an idiot. 

(And he can't believe he just admitted that Haru was attractive.)

“Cmon,” is all Haru says, and they make their way over to the pool. Nagisa looks excited (but then Nagisa is excited about everything) and starts asking Haru a million questions, like where he's from and how long he's been swimming.

No one mentions the prosthetic, but it's there like an elephant in the room and Haru seems very impatient to get in the water - to hide it, maybe. In any case, his fingers are twitching.

When they finally get to see Haru swim, it's like he's back home, and Nagisa hurries over to Makoto to whisper, “Wow! I didn't know you could swim with a foot like that!”

Makoto just nods, because it's like no one else is there, just Haru and the water.

xxx

“You lifeguard,” Haru deadpans, weeks later, watching Makoto change into his guard uniform. Makoto is keenly aware of his gaze, so fixed and pointed, and even though he changes in front of Haru all the time, he's blushing.

“Yeah,” mutters Makoto, fidgeting with his red swim shorts. “I don't usually guard on weekdays, but someone got sick.”

Haru is quiet for awhile, watching Makoto. Finally he asks, "Do you lifeguard at the outdoor YMCA? In the summer?"

Makoto knows where this was going and he's been waiting for a long time, but now he feels stupid for keeping it a secret."Yeah. You dive there."

Their eyes meet, and Haru’s narrow, and Makoto flushes even darker. What if Haru is mad? He should have told him at the beginning. It just never felt like the time, and Haru is so stoic that bringing up his downfall seemed cruel, somehow.

Haru breaks the gaze and wipes his hands on his suit, in a rare show of self-consciousness. “That was you that one day, wasn't it?” he mutters. “I'm still mad that I - "

"It's fine," Makoto cuts him off. Haru has no reason to apologize. Makoto knows that Haru thinks his prosthetic is a burden on the rest of the team, but Makoto thinks he's amazing. "You were my first, though."

There's a pause. 

Makoto realizes too late what he's said, seeing Haru blush, and quickly backtracks: "First rescue, I mean, first rescue."

Haru swallows and Makoto can see it in his throat, and they both bid at the same time. Makoto hurriedly stuffs his clothes in his bag and swings it on. He doesn't want to call this sexual tension, because he knows Haru doesn't like him, but that's what it feels like. He clears his throat. 

“I'm sorry I didn't tell you before.” And he really is.

Haru just says, “It's fine.” 

Everything is always fine. 

xxx

Makoto would like to say that he and Haru get close. Every day they walk from classes down to the pool, and every day Makoto watches his swimming improve more and more. He's impressed, so impressed.

Unfortunately, they compete against swimmers with two feet, without prosthetics, and they aren't so impressed.

It's been a particularly difficult meet and Makoto is the last one to leave. He's packing up his gear, retrieving Nagisa’s forgotten goggles, and he's so proud of his team. Haru’s times are still the best, which angers the other swimmers, but Makoto just wants to hug him.

(Makoto has heard whispers among other teams that Haru's cheating, that his prosthetic makes him faster. It's unfair. Makoto wishes they could see how hard Haru works, every practice.)

The locker room is empty, and Makoto towels off and decides to change when he gets home. He heads for the door, but as he kicks it open, there's a hiss at his feet.

Makoto looks down, lips parting in surprise, as the cat winds around his feet. He's partly surprised because of the cat, but mostly because he's heard voices - loud voices.

"I don't even know why you're competing, Haruka. You can't even walk, hardly."

Makoto peers around the door, shocked. Rin Matsuoka, whose times are only barely behind Haru’s, stands with his hands on his hips.

"I can too," says Haru, and Makoto has never heard his voice so angry. "It's not my fault you're so obsessed with winning. I just like to swim.”

Rin bares his shark teeth. “You're only allowed to swim here because we feel sorry for you.”

"Shut up,” says Haru, and something in his voice warns danger. Makoto has never heard him lose his temper before. Not calm, focused Haru. 

"It's true." Rin’s voice holds a sneer, enough to make Makoto bite his lip in anger. "You're screwing up your own team. Just because you have a peg leg, we have to throw you a pity party - "

Makoto bounces out of the bathroom, heart pounding, thinking only of Haru. "Stop!" Makoto yells at Rin (and Makoto never yells), pointing a shaking finger. "Haru is twice the swimmer you'll ever be!"

It’s not true; Rin is fast, and it’s that knowledge that gives him that smug, smug smile. "Look, Haru. It's your boyfriend, come to give you a piggyback ride home.”

Makoto flushes (does he really look like Haru’s boyfriend?). He tries to look brave as he marches up to Rin and starts lecturing. "You shut up, you insensitive - “ 

"Aww, Haru's sweetheart comes to the rescue!" exclaims Rin, leering. "That's adorable. Except - wait, I forgot. Haru can't get a boyfriend. Because he's special needs."

Makoto bites his lip, tempted to scream in Rin’s face. Makoto doesn't like being mocked by him, but he hates having Haru mocked by him. Determined, stubborn Haru who puts his whole life into swimming - into proving that he can do things without anyone's help. 

But then... why was Makoto helping him?

The thought staggers Makoto. But the answer - maybe you love him- makes him blush, and Rin cackles.

Maybe you love him. Maybe you love him, Makoto. The thought repeats like a mantra, and slowly the ‘maybe’ ebbs away as Makoto switches his gaze from Rin to Haru.

"He could get a boyfriend if he wanted," Makoro says, gathering all his courage, and before he thinks too much about it, he leans in and kisses Haru.

 

His lips are cold, but it's everything Makoto wants, and he prays Haru doesn't hate him.

Rin shouts something, spitefully, about the getting a room, but Makoto is past listening. Or caring. All that matters now is Haru, twisting his arms around Makoto, pressing his firm lips to Makoto's lips and opening his mind to a whole new world. 

Oblivious to Rin, Haru goes on kissing, his bare chest brushing Makoto's, and it's the best thing that's ever happened to Makoto. 

Haru tells him, later, that it’s the best thing that ever knocks him off his feet.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! (Sorry for making Rin the bad guy...I secretly love him, I promise.)
> 
> Comment if you love MakoHaru <3


End file.
